This Hockey Team Brings Passion to the Ice

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Before and after Andy Jortner underwent surgery for pancreatitis and gall bladder disease last fall he was in excruciating pain. But each time his mother said her 28-year-old son still held his hands together and motioned as if controlling a puck.
“All he wanted to know is when he could play hockey,” his mother Catherine said.
The young man is one of 13 players on the Connecticut Chasers, a team for those with developmental disabilities in the Greater Hartford area. The Jortners are from Kensington and the current roster also includes players from towns such as West Hartford, Avon, Ellington, South Windsor and Simsbury.